Aftermath of Dreaming Reading Group Guide 1. The relationships that Yvette has with Reggie, Michael and Andrew, if put all together, in a sense, make up the aspects that someone might have in a relationship with one person. How does Yvette rely on different aspects from these different characters to fill her needs? Have you ever done that? And can that ever be considered healthy? 2. Yvette goes back to Michael after repeated experiences with him prove she should do otherwise. How does the illusion of a relationship with Michael benefit her? What does Yvette get from Michael? And how do illusions sometimes sustain ourselves when we don't think there will be anything else? 3. Yvette's background in the South makes her a fish-out-of-water in Hollywood and in the New York art world. Did her experiences alter how you view those worlds? Have you ever felt like a fish-out-of-water, and if so, did it make you change any of your behavior or ideas? 4. Michelangelo said his job was to chip away at the marble until the statue inside was revealed. How does Yvette use her experiences with Andrew and her father to reveal her true nature, the person she was meant to be? By letting go of those men, was she able to remove what was blocking her or the other way around? 5. There is an old saying that artists stay children. Since Yvette's jewelry designing career forces her to operate in the world as a grown-up, was her letting go of her dream to be a fine artist the first sign of her growing up? Or was it a sign of defeat? Do you think our society places a stigma on people who "give up"? 6. How does Yvette's journey from art to jewelry parallel her journey from being with an extremely powerful and famous man to being open to being with a man whose life is more normal? 7. Consider the similarities between Michael, Andrew, and Yvette's father. What did she gain from them? Was the pain she went through with each one worth what she gained? 8. What motivates Andrew? In your opinion, what enables him to so suddenly shift from being loving to distant? To what do you attribute his compulsive womanizing? 9. What kind of relationship does Reggie want with Yvette? Does he really believe they have a future together, or is he operating under an illusion as well? And does his hanging on to that illusion help him hide something from himself and others? 10. Through Yvette's relationship with Andrew, she was able to find forgiveness and acceptance of her father. Was her letting go of him believable or will she repeat the same pattern again? 11. How does Yvette's letting go of Reggie allow her to connect more with Suzanne? Does it also allow her to be open to a more whole relationship with another man? 12. Andrew is a man of great wealth, fame, and success, while Yvette has none of that power. What did Andrew get from their relationship? What power in the world did Yvette have with him? 13. Which period of Yvette's relationship with Andrew offered her more security, when he was a father figure and purely platonic, or when they were lovers? 14. Is Suzanne competitive with Yvette or does she have her best interest at heart? Or both? Does Suzanne's taking on of the mother role help or hurt her relationship with Yvette? Have you experienced that with your own siblings? 15. Andrew, Reggie, and Yvette's father all abandon Yvette at different times and in different ways, whom does Yvette abandon? 16. Both major relationships in Yvette's life, Andrew and Reggie, are ambiguous, ill defined and encompass many roles. Are the most fulfilling relationships ones that are well defined or do all relationships inherently have different roles in them? 17. When Yvette is in her early twenties, she believes that the only way for her to obtain happiness is to be with Andrew Madden forever. How does letting go of what we think we must have sometimes bring us the ultimate freedom and joy? 18. Did Andrew grow in this novel or stay the same? 19. Yvette is tolerant of Andrew's relationships with Lily and Stephanie, like a mistress is about a wife. What matters more - being the one the man truly loves or having the title of wife or girlfriend? 20. Andrew and Yvette's relationship explores a classic plot through history of an older man with a younger woman. Is a relationship between an older man and a younger woman always exploitive? Do the novel's characterizations of men and women match your own experience with the opposite sex? 21. Was Yvette foolish to stay with Andrew while he was with Stephanie or hopeful? Would you have? 22. Yvette is the only woman in Andrew's life that he ever had an only platonic relationship with. Was Andrew seeking to replace missing family ties by being with Yvette when she was so young? What need was he trying to fill? 23. In Yvette's mind, Andrew gave her a lot. Do you agree? 24. What variations on love (parental, romantic, erotic) are presented in Aftermath of Dreaming. Which characters appear to experience the most authentic forms of love? 25. The novel closes with Yvette having said goodbye to Andrew, connecting with her sister, and re-meeting Eric at the cafe. What do you predict for Yvette?